The relief he feels in seeing her car parked next to his apartment building is tantamount to finding Max and Isabel again after being separated from them for three years.

He opens the door to a darkened apartment and is about to yell out for Maria when he notices her asleep on the couch.

A call to her mom to let her know that her baby girl was okay and asleep on his couch is met with jubilation and praise to the saints.

It's almost 2:00 in the morning and Michael talks Amy Deluca into letting Maria stay because it would be a shame to awaken her. Amy agrees but shoots several lines of Spanish at him that he's sure is a curse of some kind on him and his family jewels.

Michael has an overpowering need to be near her, to touch her and approaches the sleeping beauty only to be distracted by her clothes neatly folded over an armchair that the Evans had given him.

The realization that she is completely naked under the light blanket stops him in his tracts. He has never seen her completely naked and the thought warms his body and his heart when it hits him that she is offering herself to him.

He could not control the sudden, wild beating of his heart as he gazed down at her sleeping form. All the frustration he has felt at not being able to assuage his need to be one with this woman, whom he loves to distraction, has been lifted.

Sondra was right when she said that he was probably not ready for a physical relationship. He and Maria will know when it's right and their continued love for each other will be their guide.

(Morning)

Maria moans and pulls the covers over her head to block out the sun when she realizes that the sun doesn't shine this brightly in her room.

Discovering that she's completely naked under the covers and that she's not in her bed but on Michael's couch has her clutching the covers and bolting upright.

His features give nothing away as he stands there, silently studying her with a cup of coffee in one hand and his bathrobe in the other.

"Good morning," He leans over to place a light kiss on her forehead and hands her the robe. "Why don't you take a shower and when I return from taking Sondra her car we'll have breakfast and talk."

"Michael, I have to get home. My mom is going to kill me." She rejects the proffered robe and rushes pass him to the chair were she had left her clothes the night before.

She hurriedly puts on her panties and maneuvers the fastenings of her bra with one hand - To Michael it's like watching a backward striptease. When she has one arm in the sleeve of her blouse he comes up behind her and stills any further movement. He leads her by the one sleeveless arm over to the couch.

"Maria, first of all your mother knows where you are," he says in a voice so calm she thinks his lips are moving in slow motion.

"There is no way that my mother knows I am here and hasn't called in the National Guard," she shoots at him before returning to the task of pulling on her blouse and then grabs for her pants.

"I called her last night after searching everywhere for you. It was late and you were already asleep so she agreed to let you stay, but her agreement was accompanied by a string of Spanish expletives or curses: I'm not sure which."

He relinquishes the pants from her hand and pulls her into his arms. Pressing his forehead to hers, he drags in a harsh breath. "I love you Maria and I can't promise that I'll never leave because being who and what I am may one day force me to. But know this - I will always love you."

Michael's mouth is never still. At times it works in counterpoint to hers, at other times in direct opposition, and though there is never violence in what is happening it is a sensual attack on her mind and body.

Maria is in heaven, sent there by the feel of his large hard body against hers, the pressure of his arm that holds her to him, and the clean scent of soap and masculinity. And the heat, oh what heat. It is as sexual as heat gets and radiates from him in the same way it radiates from her and in that moment it happens. She gets a flash.

She sees Michael, Max and Isabel in the desert and how Michael does not take Max's hand when the Evan's car approaches, the time in the fifth grade when they sat together on a field trip to the Museum and more recently after he had killed Pierce and he wiped tears from his eyes when he was alone.

As suddenly as it started, it stopped. Her eyes are passion gazed as he pulls away from her, grabs her shoulders, turns her in the direction of the bathroom and pats her butt. "Now, go take your shower and I'll be right back."

Before she can say anything he's out of the door.